Page 10 - NBIZ JUNE 2024

What Happened

to the

Tenant?

By Brian D. Womac

he negotiations between landlord and tenant have to start
with who will be the parties to the lease. Determining the
parties to the lease is the first and most important starting
Tpoint in any lease negotiation. Once it is determined who will
be the tenant, the landlord and management have to stay on top of
their tenant to confirm nothing changes throughout the lease term.
The starting point is the lease document itself. The leasing agents
must understand exactly who the parties to the lease will be.
A common error made in determining who will be your
tenant evolves from the faulty signature line drafted in the lease
by the leasing agents. There are hundreds of fully executed
leases in the Harris County area where the tenant has signed as
a company and either the company does not exist, or the land-
lord intended for the tenant to be an individual. This important
issue often ends up creating problems for the landlord when the
lease ends up in default and a lawsuit is filed.

Signature Discrepancy Scenario

I have seen several landlord/tenant disputes end up in litiga-
tion here in Houston because of signature discrepancies. Often,
tenants claim to be a company, yet all documents indicate the
tenant is an individual except for the signature line. Landlords
want personal liability whenever they can get an individual to
sign and/or guarantee a lease. The issues in the lease form can
create issues for the attorney while he/she is enforcing the lease.
How does this happen? Here is one story. I filed what started
out as a simple lawsuit on behalf of a landlord against an
individual for rents owed. That individual signed the lease as an
individual but later signed a lease amendment as president of a

10 NBIZ ■ JUNE 2024